Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uruguay
Uruguay: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 99.7% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uruguay, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of the population with at least some formal education in Uruguay stood at 99.7%. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
The figure is up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Uruguay peaked at 99.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 8.3%, in 1870.
Uruguay ranks 9th of 111 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 9.2% | 8.3% | 10.2% | 2 |
| 1880s | 13.7% | 12.3% | 15.0% | 2 |
| 1890s | 19.1% | 18.0% | 20.2% | 2 |
| 1900s | 23.5% | 22.5% | 24.5% | 2 |
| 1910s | 36.9% | 32.8% | 41.0% | 2 |
| 1920s | 52.8% | 47.2% | 58.3% | 2 |
| 1930s | 66.0% | 63.5% | 68.4% | 2 |
| 1940s | 76.3% | 73.8% | 78.8% | 2 |
| 1950s | 85.8% | 84.3% | 87.2% | 2 |
| 1960s | 90.8% | 89.6% | 92.0% | 2 |
| 1970s | 94.0% | 93.2% | 94.7% | 2 |
| 1980s | 96.2% | 95.9% | 96.4% | 2 |
| 1990s | 97.1% | 96.7% | 97.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 98.8% | 98.3% | 99.3% | 2 |
| 2010s | 99.5% | 99.5% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 2020s | 99.7% | 99.7% | 99.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Uruguay
More education data for Uruguay
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 104.5% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 18,882 (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.4 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 104.0% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Uruguay?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Uruguay was 99.7% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Uruguay?
- The highest recorded value was 99.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Uruguay?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.3% in 1870.
- How does Uruguay rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Uruguay ranks 9th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Uruguay?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Uruguay data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.